Systems and methods for communication link redundancy for distributed antenna systems

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a distributed antenna system comprises: at least one master unit; at least one remote antenna unit communicatively coupled via a switch to the master unit by a primary cable and a secondary cable both coupled to the switch, the remote antenna unit comprising a compensating link check module that outputs a control signal to the switch, wherein the switch selects between the primary and secondary cable in response to the control signal; wherein the compensating link check module controls the switch to momentarily select the secondary cable to perform a link check during which the remote unit measures a quality metric of a downlink signal received via the secondary cable; and upon initiation of the link check, the compensating link check module adjusts an attenuation of the downlink signal received on the secondary cable by loading calibration settings for the secondary cable into a compensation attenuator.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. Patent Application claiming priority to, andthe benefit of, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/512,489,titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMMUNICATION LINK REDUNDANCY FORDISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEMS” filed on May 30, 2017, and which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

A Distributed Antenna System (DAS) typically includes one or more masterunits that are communicatively coupled with a plurality of remoteantenna units, where each remote antenna unit can be coupled directly toone or more of the master units or indirectly via one or more otherremote antenna units and/or via one or more intermediary or expansionunits. A DAS is typically used to improve the coverage provided by oneor more base stations that are coupled to the master units. These basestations can be coupled to the master units via one or more cables orvia a wireless connection, for example, using one or more donorantennas. The wireless service provided by the base stations canincluded commercial cellular service and/or private or public safetywireless communications.

When planning for coverage of tunnels, buildings, train stations,airports, stadiums and similar facilities that present public safetychallenges and concerns, maintaining DAS communications coverage in thefacility during emergency events is an important consideration. For thatreason, DAS operators may be required to provide remote antenna unitswith connections to their master units using two redundant cables (forexample, optical fibers) laid through two different, spatial separated,independent areas. For example, one way to address this need is throughoptical link redundancy (OLR), which provides a fully redundant linkbetween the master and remote antenna units in addition to the mainoptical fiber link. OLR provides for two completely redundant opticallinks, not only redundant optical fibers but also redundant opticaltransceivers at both the master unit and remote antenna unit sites.

However, for public safety operators, this redundant and expensiveequipment remains dormant most of the time, except for when emergencysituations require its operation.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a distributed antenna system comprises: at least onemaster unit configured to receive a base station downlink radiofrequency signal and to transmit a base station uplink radio frequencysignal; at least one remote antenna unit that is communicatively coupledvia a switch to the at least one master unit by a primary cable and asecondary cable both coupled to the switch, the remote antenna unitcomprising a power amplifier and configured to radiate a remote downlinkradio frequency signal from at least one antenna associated with theremote antenna unit, the remote antenna unit further configured toreceive a remote uplink radio frequency signal from at least one antennaassociated with the remote antenna unit; and a compensating link checkmodule that outputs a control signal to the switch, wherein the switchselects between the primary cable and the secondary cable in response tothe control signal; wherein the compensating link check module isconfigured to control the switch to momentarily select the secondarycable to perform a link check of the secondary cable, wherein during thelink check of the secondary cable the remote unit measures at least onequality metric of a downlink signal received from the at least onemaster unit via the secondary cable; and wherein upon initiation of thelink check of the secondary cable, the compensating link check moduleadjusts an attenuation of the downlink signal received on the secondarycable by loading a set of calibration settings for the secondary cableinto a downlink compensation attenuator.

DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1, 1A, 1B and 1C are block diagrams illustrating an exampledistributed antenna system of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1D illustrates an optional configuration for primary and secondarycables of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example master unit coupled toa remote antenna a compensating link check module of one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 2A is block diagram illustrating an example transceiver interfaceof one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an alternate example of a remoteantenna coupled to a master unit a compensating link check module of oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3 and 3A are diagrams illustrating example embodiments of anexpansion unit of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating another example embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of one embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

In accordance with common practice, the various described features arenot drawn to scale but are drawn to emphasize. Reference charactersdenote like elements throughout figures and text.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown byway of specific illustrative embodiments. These embodiments aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the embodiments, and it is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized and that logical, mechanical and electricalchanges may be made without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to betaken in a limiting sense.

Embodiments of the present disclosure present solutions for DASoperators that provide redundant paths for connectivity to remoteantenna units without the need to provide redundant transceiverinterfaces for the main cable and the substitute cable. Instead, asshown in the several example embodiments below, a DAS may incorporate asingle cable transceiver interface at the master unit and remote antennaunits, along with a compensating link check function that momentarilyswitches the active signal path from the primary cable to the substitutecable in order to validate that the substitute cable is viable. Thecompensating link check function is referred to here as “compensating”because it also reconfigures the cable transceiver interfaces at eitherthe remote antenna unit, master unit, or both, in order to addressdifferences in path losses that could cause the signal received from thesecondary path to overdrive a power amplifier, or other sensitiveequipment, in the remote antenna unit.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of a distributedantenna system (DAS) 100 where the remote antenna units utilize acompensating link check function as described herein. As shown in FIG.1, the DAS 100 comprises one or more master units 110 that arecommunicatively coupled to one or more remote antenna units 112 via oneor more cable pairs 114, each pair 114 further comprising a main (or“primary”) cable and a parallel coupled substitute (or “secondary”)cable that can serve as a backup to maintain connectivity from a masterunit 110 to the remote antenna unit 112 in the event that the primarycable becomes degraded or faulted. Each remote antenna unit 112 can becommunicatively coupled directly to one or more of the master units 110or indirectly via one or more other remote antenna units 112 and/or viaone or more intermediary or expansion units 113.

Each master unit 110 is communicatively coupled to one or more basestations 140. One or more of the base stations 140 can be co-locatedwith the respective master units 110 to which it is coupled (forexample, where the base station 140 is dedicated to providing basestation capacity to the DAS 100 and is coupled to the respective masterunits 110). Also, one or more of the base stations 140 can be locatedremotely from the respective master units 110 to which it is coupled(for example, where the base station 140 provides base station capacityto an area beyond the coverage area of the DAS 100). In this lattercase, the master unit 110 can be coupled to a donor antenna and repeateror bi-directional amplifier in order to wirelessly communicate with theremotely located base station 140.

In this exemplary embodiment, the base stations 140 include one or morebase stations that are used to provide public and/or private safetywireless services (for example, wireless communications used byemergency services organizations (such as police, fire and emergencymedical services) to prevent or respond to incidents that harm orendanger persons or property). Such base stations are also referred tohere as “safety wireless service base stations” or “safety basestations.” The base stations 140 also can include, in addition to safetybase stations, one or more base stations that are used to providecommercial cellular wireless service. Such base stations are alsoreferred to here as “commercial wireless service base stations” or“commercial base stations.”

The base stations 140 can be coupled to the master units 110 using anetwork of attenuators, combiners, splitters, amplifiers, filters,cross-connects, etc., (sometimes referred to collectively as a“point-of-interface” or “POI”). This network can be included in themaster units 110 and/or can be separate from the master units 110. Thisis done so that, in the downlink, the desired set of RF channels outputby the base stations 140 can be extracted, combined, and routed to theappropriate master units 110, and so that, in the upstream, the desiredset of carriers output by the master units 110 can be extracted,combined, and routed to the appropriate interface of each base station140. It is to be understood, however, that this is one example and thatother embodiments can be implemented in other ways.

As shown in FIG. 1A, in general, each master unit 110 comprises downlinkDAS circuitry 111 that is configured to receive one or more downlinksignals from one or more base stations 140. These signals are alsoreferred to here as “base station downlink signals.” Each base stationdownlink signal includes one or more radio frequency channels used forcommunicating in the downlink direction with user equipment (UE) 116(such as tablets or cellular telephone, for example) over the relevantwireless air interface. Typically, each base station downlink signal isreceived as an analog radio frequency signal, though in some embodimentsone or more of the base station signals are received in a digital form(for example, in a digital baseband form complying with the CommonPublic Radio Interface (“CPRI”) protocol, Open Radio Equipment Interface(“ORP”) protocol, the Open Base Station Standard Initiative (“OBSAI”)protocol, or other protocol). The downlink DAS circuitry 111 in eachmaster unit 110 is also configured to generate one or more downlinktransport signals derived from one or more base station downlink signalsand to transmit one or more downlink transport signals to one or more ofthe remote antenna units 112.

As shown in FIG. 1B, each remote antenna unit 112 comprises downlink DAScircuitry 118 that is configured to receive the downlink transportsignals transmitted to it from one or more master units 110 and to usethe received downlink transport signals to generate one or more downlinkradio frequency signals that are radiated from one or more antennas 119associated with that remote antenna unit 112 for reception by userequipment 116. These downlink radio frequency signals are analog radiofrequency signals and are also referred to here as “remote downlinkradio frequency signals.” Each remote downlink radio frequency signalincludes one or more of the downlink radio frequency channels used forcommunicating with user equipment 116 over the wireless air interface.In this way, the DAS 100 increases the coverage area for the downlinkcapacity provided by the base stations 140.

Also, each remote antenna unit 112 comprises uplink DAS circuitry 121that is configured to receive via antenna 119 one or more uplink radiofrequency signals transmitted from the user equipment 116. These signalsare analog radio frequency signals and are also referred to here as“remote uplink radio frequency signals.” Each uplink radio frequencysignal includes one or more radio frequency channels used forcommunicating in the uplink direction with user equipment 116 over therelevant wireless air interface. The uplink DAS circuitry 121 in eachremote antenna unit 112 is also configured to generate one or moreuplink transport signals derived from the one or more remote uplinkradio frequency signals and to transmit one or more uplink transportsignals to one or more of the master units 110.

Each master unit 110 comprises uplink DAS circuitry 124 that isconfigured to receive the respective uplink transport signalstransmitted to it from one or more remote antenna units 112 and to usethe received uplink transport signals to generate one or more basestation uplink radio frequency signals that are provided to the one ormore base stations 140 associated with that master unit 110. Typically,this involves, among other things, combining or summing uplink signalsreceived from multiple remote antenna units 112 in order to produce thebase station signal provided to each base station 140. Each base stationuplink signal includes one or more of the uplink radio frequencychannels used for communicating with user equipment 116 over thewireless air interface. In this way, the DAS 100 increases the coveragearea for the uplink capacity provided by the base stations 140.

As shown in FIG. 1C, each expansion unit 113 comprises downlink DAScircuitry 126 that is configured to receive the downlink transportsignals transmitted to it from the master unit 110 (or other expansionunit 113) and transmits the downlink transport signals to one or moreremote antenna units 112 or other downstream expansion units 113. Eachexpansion unit 113 comprises uplink DAS circuitry 128 that is configuredto receive the respective uplink transport signals transmitted to itfrom one or more remote antenna units 112 or other downstream expansionunits 113, combine or sum the received uplink transport signals, andtransmit the combined uplink transport signals upstream to the masterunit 110 or other expansion unit 113. In some embodiments, one or moreremote antenna units 112 may be coupled to the one or more master units110 via one or more other remote antenna units 112 (for examples, wherethe remote antenna units 112 are coupled together in a daisy chain orring topology). In such an embodiments, an expansion unit 113 may beimplemented using a remote antenna units 112.

The downlink DAS circuitry 111, 118, and 126 and uplink DAS circuitry124, 121, and 128 in each master unit 110, remote antenna unit 112, andexpansion unit 113, respectively, can comprise one or more appropriateconnectors, attenuators, combiners, splitters, amplifiers, filters,duplexers, analog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters,mixers, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), microprocessors,transceivers, framers, etc., to implement the features described above.Also, the downlink DAS circuitry 111, 118, and 126 and uplink DAScircuitry 124, 121, and 128 may share common circuitry and/orcomponents. For example, some components (such as duplexers) by theirnature are shared among the downlink DAS circuitry 111, 118, and 126 anduplink DAS circuitry 124, 121, and 128.

The DAS 100 can use either digital transport, analog transport, orcombinations of digital and analog transport for generating andcommunicating the transport signals between the master units 110, theremote antenna units 112, and any expansion units 113. For the purposesof illustration, some of the embodiments described here are implementedusing analog transport over optical cables. However, it is to beunderstood that other embodiments can be implemented in other ways, forexample, in DASs that use other types of analog transport (for example,using other types of cable and/or using analog transport that makes useof frequency shifting), digital transport (for example, where digitalsamples indicative of the analog base station radio frequency signalsand analog remote radio frequency signals are generated and communicatedbetween the master units 110 and the remote antenna units 112), orcombinations of analog and digital transport.

Each unit 110, 112, 113 in the DAS 100 can also comprises a respectivecontroller 130. The controller 130 is implemented using one or moreprogrammable processors that execute software that is configured toimplement the various features described here as being implemented bythe controller 130. The controller 130, the various features describedhere as being implemented by the controller 130, or portions thereof,can be implemented in other ways (for example, in a field programmablegate array (FPGA), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC),etc.).

Each controller 130 is configured to monitor and control the operationof the associated unit. Each controller 130 is also configured to sendand receive management data over the DAS 100. In one embodiment, eachunit 110, 112, 113 in the DAS 100 also comprises a modem 135 that isconfigured to send and receive management data over the DAS 100 bymodulating and demodulating one or more carrier frequencies that areused for the purpose of communicating management data. In someembodiments (for example, where digital transport is used in the DAS), aseparate modem 135 for modulating and demodulating management data isnot used and, instead, the management data is combined with the digitalDAS transport data before being supplied to the transport transceiver orother physical layer device.

One or more of the units 110, 112, 113 in the DAS 100 also comprise aninterface 150 to couple the controller 130 in that unit 110, 112, 113 toan operator control panel 131 that is deployed near that unit 110, 112,113. The interface 150 is therefore also referred to here as an “OCPinterface 150.” Each such unit 110, 112, 113 can include an appropriateconnector to attach a cable 152 (also referred to here as an “OCP cable152”) that is used to couple the unit 110, 112, 113 to the OCP 131. Ingeneral, each OCP 131 can be connected to the nearest unit 110, 112, 113of the DAS 110.

In some embodiments, the primary and secondary cables discussed hereinmay each operate bidirectionally with downlink and uplink communicationscarried over the cable. It should also be understood, however, that inother embodiments, the primary cable may itself further comprise a pairof cables including an uplink cable for uplink communication, and adownlink cable for downlink communication, as shown in FIG. 1D.Similarly, the secondary cable may itself further comprise a pair ofcables including an uplink cable for uplink communication, and adownlink cable for downlink communication also as shown in FIG. 1E. Insuch a configuration, there would therefore be a total of four cables (aprimary pair in cable 114-P and a secondary pair in cable 114-S)coupling each remote antenna unit 112 to a master unit 110.

As mentioned above, in addition to potentially providing commercialconnectivity to users via consumer bands, DAS 110 also distributespublic safety connectivity coverage and private safety communicationcoverage. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, each remote unit112 includes a compensating link check module 120 that monitors theintegrity of a substitute cable path from the master unit, as furtherdescribed below.

Compensating link check module 120, the various features described hereas being implemented by compensating link check module 120, and/orportions thereof, can be implemented by circuits comprising electronicsin combination with for example, control circuitry and/or code executedby a processor, in a field programmable gate array (FPGA), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or the like. In someembodiments, the compensating link check module 120 may be implementedwith electronics responsive to signals from the remote unit controller130. In some embodiments, the compensating link check module 120 may beimplemented at least in part as a software application executed by thecontroller 130.

FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram illustrating remote antenna unit 200 ofone embodiment of the present disclosure that may be used to implementany one of the remote units 112 of the DAS 100 described above inconnection with FIG. 1 and operate in conjunction with the master unit110 shown in FIG. 1. In the particular embodiment shown in FIG. 2,remote antenna unit 200 comprises an optical transceiver interface(OTRX) 210 for communicating via optical fiber with the master unit 110and an optical switch 232 coupled between the OTRX 210 and the primaryand secondary optical fiber cables (114-P and 114-S) through which theremote antenna unit 200 communicates with the master unit 110. It shouldbe appreciated that in other embodiments, the master unit 110 and remoteunit 200 may communicate over other types of wiring or cables. Remoteantenna unit 200 further comprises an RF power amplifier 211, a duplexer212, an antenna port 215 that is configured to couple the remote antennaunit 200 an antenna 119, a low noise amplifier (LNA) 122, and acompensating link check module 120. Power amplifier 211 power amplifiesdownlink signals to a desired power level and feeds it to antenna 119 toradiate to user equipment 116 (not shown in FIG. 2) via duplexer 212.Uplink radio frequency signals transmitted from user equipment 116 inthe coverage area of the remote antenna unit 200 are received via theassociated antenna 119 and provided to LNA 122, which amplifies thereceived uplink signals. The remote antenna unit 200 can also includeone or more of band-pass filters (not shown) to filter out signalshaving frequencies outside of the bands in which the remote antenna unit112 is licensed to operate. As such, though the power amplifier 211 mayoutput a broad range of amplified signals, only those signals infrequency bands for which DAS 100 is authorized to transmit will pass tothe antenna port 215 and radiate from antenna 119. Similarly, the remoteantenna unit 200 can also include one or more of band-pass filters (notshown) configured to pass to the LNA 122 only the signals in therelevant uplink frequency bands without permitting high power downlinksignals to pass and saturate the uplink path electronics of the remoteantenna unit 200.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the remote antenna unit 200 iscoupled to the master unit 110 by two separate cables which are routedthrough two diverse paths. The primary, or main cable 114-P is laidalong a first path 221 while the secondary, or substitute cable 114-S islaid along a second path 222 that is physically separated from the firstpath 221. For example, the first path 221 may comprise a first set ofrooms, corridors, hallways, tunnels, cable trays, etc., that arecompletely distinct from those of the second path 222. In this way, ifthere is a fire, structural collapse, or other catastrophic event alongthe first path 221 that damages the primary cable 114-P, the physicalseparation of the second path 222 from the first path 221 may allow thesecondary cable 114-S to survive and remain functional. The master unit110 includes an optical transceiver interface 202 coupled to an opticalsplitter-combiner 204 that comprises separate ports coupled to theprimary cable 114-P and secondary cable 114-S. Downlink communicationsignals output from the optical transceiver interface 202 are split intoto duplicate optical signals, one applied to primary cable 114-P and theother applied to the secondary cable 114-S. In the upstream direction,uplink optical communication signals received from either the primarycable 114-P or the secondary cable 114-S are passed up to the opticaltransceiver interface 202 and processed by the master unit 110 asdescribed above. Because only one of the primary cable 114-P or thesecondary cable 114-S will ever be active at any one time, processing todeal with two concurrent uplink communication signals from the remoteunit 200 at the splitter-combiner 204 is not necessary.

In the remote antenna unit 200, the primary cable 114-P and secondarycable 114-S are switchably coupled to the optical transceiver interface210 via the optical switch 232 such that only one of the two cables114-P or 114-S is actively coupled to the optical transceiver interfacethrough a complete signal path at any one time. That is, under normaloperating conditions, optical switch 232 is switched to a first statewhere the primary cable 114-P is actively coupled to the opticaltransceiver interface 210 and uplink and downlink communications betweenthe master unit 110 and the remote antenna unit 200 are carried by theprimary cable 114-P. When a degradation is detected in the signal beingcarried by the primary cable 114-P (for example, a loss or otherattenuation of signal power below a threshold or an increase in otherdetectable errors), the optical switch 232 may be switched to a secondstate where the secondary cable 114-S becomes actively coupled to theoptical transceiver interface 210 instead of the primary cable 114-P sothat uplink and downlink communications between the master unit 110 andthe remote antenna unit 112 are carried by the secondary cable 114-S.Two separate communication paths are thus provided to the remote antennaunit 112 from a master unit.

It should be noted however that during periods when the primary cable114-P is actively coupled to the optical transceiver interface 210instead of the second cable 114-S (which is most of the time given thatthe function of the secondary cable 114-S is as a backup for the primarycable 114-P) the downlink signal received via the secondary cable 114-Sis not coupled to the optical transceiver interface 210 and thus is notactively monitored as received at the remote antenna unit 200. Ifsomething were wrong with the secondary cable 114-S, that defect wouldnot be identified until the secondary cable 114-S is actively coupled tothe optical transceiver interface 210 instead of the primary cable114-P.

For this reason, remote antenna units 200 each comprise the compensatinglink check module 120, which periodically operates the switch 232 toswap the input of the remote antenna unit's optical transceiverinterface between the primary and secondary cables feeding the remoteantenna unit on a configurable basis. As shown in FIG. 2, thecompensating link check module 120 is coupled to the optical switch 232and the optical transceiver interface 210. In some embodiments, thecompensating link check module 120 may be implemented at least in partas a software application stored in a memory 123 coupled to, andexecuted by, the controller 130.

Normally, the optical signal received at the optical switch 232 willcomprise the signal from the optical splitter-combiner 204 of masterunit 110 that was carried by the primary cable 114-P routed along thefirst path 221. In order to initiate a link check of the secondary cable114-S, the compensating link check module 120 controls the opticalswitch 232 to momentarily decouple the primary cable 114-P from theinput of the optical transceiver interface 210 and couple the secondarycable 114-S to the optical transceiver interface 210. In one embodiment,the duration of this link check may be on the order of 500 milliseconds,for example. During this momentary period, the optical signal receivedat the optical switch 232 will instead comprise the signal from theoptical splitter-combiner 204 of master unit 110 that was carried by thesecondary cable 114-S routed along the second path 222. This signal asreceived at the optical transceiver interface 210 can be measured toobtain quality metrics (such as signal power level, for example) thatprovide an indication as to whether the secondary cable 114-S remainsnon-degraded.

The result of the link check can then be communicated back upstreamafter the compensating link check module 120 switches the primary cable114-P back into service. For example, in one implementation, if thesignal quality of the optical signal received via secondary cable 114-Sduring the momentary link check is acceptable (that is, the measurementindicates that the signal meets acceptable thresholds for the qualitymetric) then after the compensating link check module 120 switches theprimary cable 114-P back into service, the compensating link checkmodule 120 can communicate a status message back to the master unit 110that the secondary cable 114-S passed the link check. In oneimplementation, if the signal quality of the optical signal received viasecondary cable 114-S during the momentary link check is not acceptable(that is, the measurement indicates that the signal does not meetacceptable thresholds for the quality metric) then after thecompensating link check module 120 switches the primary cable 114-P backinto service, the compensating link check module 120 can communicate astatus message back to the master unit 110 that the secondary cable114-S has failed the link check. The master unit 110 may thencommunicate an alarm message to the DAS 100 operator indicating that thesecondary cable 114-S is in need of inspection and/or repair.

As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the primary cable 114-P andsecondary cable 114-S may each further comprise two cables including afirst cable for downlink communication and a second cable for uplinkcommunication. The link check in that case may include a measurement ofthe downlink signal as received at the optical transceiver interface 210via the downlink cable of the secondary cable 114-S, and a measurementof the uplink signal as received at the optical transceiver interface204 via the uplink cable of the secondary cable 114-S.

It should be noted that it is highly desired for the gain between theoptical transceiver interface 202 in the master unit 110 and the opticaltransceiver interface 210 in the remote unit 112 to be kept at aconstant value in both the respective uplink and downlink directionsindependent from the optical loss of the cables 114. This may beachieved by adapting settable compensation attenuators in the RF pathsof the optical transceiver interface modules 202 and 210. This gain maybe controlled, for example, by the controller 130 of the master unit110. For one example implementation, the compensation value is derivedfrom the optical loss measured between the master unit 110 and theremote unit 112, as measured during regularly repeating measurementcycles. The power levels of the RF or optical signal are measured bothat the interface modules 202 and 210, the difference between the tworepresenting the optical loss of the optical fiber connection for thatpath. Based on these measurements, the compensation attenuators in theoptical transceiver interface modules 202 and 210 are set to appropriatevalues to keep the optical link gain constant.

It should therefore further be noted that if the interface modules 202and 210 compensation attenuators are set to values corresponding to theoptical loss of the primary cable 114-P, those values will likely differfrom values that would correspond to the optical loss of the secondarycable 114-S. If the secondary cable 114-S has a much lower optical lossthan the primary cable 114-P, then during the performance of the linkcheck when the switch 232 is switched to couple the secondary cable114-S to the input of the optical transceiver interface 210, the excesspower received at the optical transceiver interface 210 would lead toexcessive RF power being supplied to the power amplifier 211 because thecompensation attenuators would maintain the settings determined for usewith the primary cable 114-P until a new gain measurement cycle isperformed. The excessive RF power supplied to the power amplifier 211has the potential to either cause damage to the power amplifier 211 oractivation of protective functions in the power amplifier 211 resulting,for example, in the switching off of the power amplifier 211, whicheventually would result in placing the remote antenna unit 112 out ofservice. For these reasons, at least one of the optical transceiverinterfaces 202 or 210 stores two sets of calibration settings for thecompensation attenuators. One set is associated with the particular losscharacteristics of the primary cable 114-P and the other is associatedwith the loss characteristics of the secondary cable 114-S.

FIG. 2A illustrates at 240 such a transceiver interface (which maycomprise, for example, either of the optical transceiver interfacemodules 202 or 210). The transceiver interface 240 comprises a downlinkcompensation attenuator 241, uplink compensation attenuator 242, and amemory 243 for storing compensation settings 244 (which may bedetermined as described above). When a link check is initiated, thecompensating link check module 120 signals the optical transceiverinterface module 202 and/or 210 to load the set of calibration settingsfor the secondary cable 114-S from the stored compensation settings 244,and signals the optical switch 232 to toggle over to the secondary cable114-S so that when the signal from the secondary cable 114-S is receivedby the optical transceiver interface module 210, the downlinkcompensation attenuator 241 is using the calibration settings associatedwith the secondary cable 114-S. When the link check is complete, thecompensating link check module 120 signals the optical transceiverinterface module 202 and/or 210 to load the set of calibration settingsfor the primary cable 114-P from the stored compensation settings 244,and signals the optical switch 232 to toggle back to the primary cable114-P so that when the signal from the primary cable 114-P is againreceived by the optical transceiver interface module 210, the downlinkcompensation attenuator 241 is using the calibration settings associatedwith the primary cable 114-P.

Regarding the determination of when the compensating link check module120 should initiate a link check, this may be based on severalconsiderations. In some implementation, a link test may be scheduled tooccur during periods when the link check is unlikely to affect anyactive communications. In other implementations, the compensating linkcheck module 120 may periodically initiate the link check according to arecurring schedule, such as on an hourly basis, every few hours or dailybasis, or at some other interval. In other implementations, the linkcheck performed by compensating link check module 120 may be manuallyinitiated by the DAS operator. Similarly, the occurrence of regularlyscheduled link checks by the compensating link check module 120 may beenabled or disabled manually by the DAS operator.

For example, in various different embodiments, compensating link checkmodule 120 responds to management data, which may be received by DAS 100in multiple different ways. For example, in one embodiment, DAS 100receives management data for initiating a link check through inputentered by an operator via one of the OCPs 131 coupled to the masterunit 110, an RAU 112, or an expansion unit 113. Status messages with theresults of link checks may similarly be communicated to and displayed byan OCP 131. Alternatively, management data for initiating a link checkmay be communicated via one of the modems 135 used for the purpose ofcommunicating management data. As another alternative, management datafor initiating a link check may be received by the master unit 110 fromone of the base stations 140. Management data comprising an instructionto initiating a link check may then be transmitted to the affected RAU112. In response, the controller 130 in the RAU 112 activates thecompensating link check module 120 to initiate the link check.

One alternate configuration of the embodiment presented in FIG. 2 isillustrated in FIG. 2B at 250, where one or both of the compensatinglink check module 120 and switch 232 may be located in the master unit110 and where the splitter-combiner 204 is relocated to the remoteantenna unit 200. In operation, as opposed to the master unit alwaysproviding a downlink signal on both cables 114-P and 114-S and theswitch 232 in the remote unit selecting which one is coupled to theoptical transceiver interface 210, the remote unit optical transceiverinterface 210 is continuously coupled to both cables 114-P and 114-S andthe switch 232 (under control of the compensating link check module 230)selects which of the cables 114-P and 114-S becomes energized.Otherwise, these components operate together in the same manner toperform link checks of the secondary cable 114-S, while reconfiguringcompensation attenuator settings, as set forth in any of the abovedisclosed examples.

FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram illustrating an expansion unit 300 of oneembodiment of the present disclosure which may be used to implement anexpansion unit 113 of the DAS 100 described in FIG. 1. In the particularembodiment shown in FIG. 3, expansion unit 300 comprises an opticaltransceiver interface (OTRX) 310 for communicating via optical fiberwith a unit 305 that is upstream from the expansion unit 300 (and whichmay comprise, for example, the master unit 110, or another expansionunit 300) and an optical switch 332 coupled between the opticaltransceiver interface 310 and a primary and secondary optical fibercables (314-P and 314-S) through which the expansion unit 300bidirectionally communicates with the unit 305.

In some embodiments, the primary and secondary cables 314-P and 314-Sdiscussed herein may each operate bidirectionally with downlink anduplink communications carried over the cable. It should also beunderstood, however, that in other embodiments, the primary cable 314-Pmay itself further comprise a pair of cables including an uplink cablefor uplink communication, and a downlink cable for downlinkcommunication. Similarly, the secondary cable 314-S may itself furthercomprise a pair of cables including an uplink cable for uplinkcommunication, and a downlink cable for downlink communication. In sucha configuration, there would therefore be a total of four cables (aprimary pair in cable 314-P and a secondary pair in cable 314-S)coupling the expansion unit 113 to the unit 305. It should also beappreciated that in other embodiments, the master unit 110 and remoteunit 200 may communicate over other types of wiring or cables.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the expansion unit 300 is coupled tothe unit 305 by two separate cables 314-P and 314-S, which are routedthrough two diverse paths. The primary, or main cable 314-P is laidalong a first path 321 while the secondary, or substitute cable 314-S islaid along a second path 322 that is physically separated from the firstpath 321. For example, the first path 321 may comprise a first set ofrooms, corridors, hallways, tunnels, cable trays, etc., that arecompletely distinct from those of the second path 322. In this way, ifthere is a fire, structural collapse, or other catastrophic event alongthe first path 321 that damages the primary cable 314-P, the physicalseparation of the second path 322 from the first path 321 may allow thesecondary cable 314-S to survive and remain functional. The unit 305includes an optical transceiver interface 302 coupled to an opticalsplitter-combiner 304 that comprises separate ports coupled to theprimary cable 314-P and secondary cable 314-S. Downlink communicationsignals output from the optical transceiver interface 302 are split intoto duplicate optical signals, one applied to primary cable 314-P and theother applied to the secondary cable 314-S. In the upstream direction,uplink optical communication signals received from either the primarycable 314-P or the secondary cable 314-S are passed up to the opticaltransceiver interface 302 and processed by the unit 305.

In the expansion unit 300, the primary cable 314-P and secondary cable314-S are switchably coupled to the optical transceiver interface 310via the optical switch 332 such that only one of the two cables isactively coupled to the optical transceiver interface through a completesignal path at any one time. That is, under normal operating conditions,optical switch 332 is switched to a first state where the primary cable314-P is actively coupled to the optical transceiver interface 310 anduplink and downlink communications between the unit 305 and theexpansion unit 300 are carried by the primary cable 314-P. When adegradation is detected in the signal being carried by the primary cable314-P (for example, a loss or other attenuation of signal power below athreshold or increase in other detectable errors), the optical switch332 may be switched to a second state where the secondary cable 314-Sbecomes actively coupled to the optical transceiver interface 310instead of the primary cable 314-P so that uplink and downlinkcommunications between the unit 305 and the expansion unit 300 arecarried by the secondary cable 314-S.

Expansion unit 300 further comprises a compensating link check module320 which periodically operates the switch 332 to switch the input ofthe remote antenna unit's optical transceiver interface between theprimary and secondary cables feeding the remote unit on a configurablebasis, in the same manner as described above with respect to thecompensating link check module 120 of the remote unit 200. As shown inFIG. 3, expansion unit 300 may not itself include a power amplifier aswas the case for remote unit 200 but instead includes a second opticaltransceiver interface 312 through which the expansion unit 300bidirectionally communicates with at least one unit 306 that isdownstream from the expansion unit 300 via at least one cable 315 (whichmay comprise either an optical or electrical cable medium). Cable 315may itself further be comprised of a set of primary and secondary cablesrouted via diverse paths to the unit 306 that is downstream from theexpansion unit 300, each of which are coupled to the expansion unit'ssecond optical transceiver interface 312 via splitter-combiner 316.

As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the primary cable 314-P andsecondary cable 314-S may each further comprise two cables including afirst cable for downlink communication and a second cable for uplinkcommunication. The link check in that case may include a measurement ofthe downlink signal as received at the optical transceiver interface 310via the downlink cable of the secondary cable 314-S, and a measurementof the uplink signal as received at the optical transceiver interface304 via the uplink cable of the secondary cable 314-S.

As was the case for the remote unit 200, if the secondary cable 314-Shas a much lower optical loss than the primary cable 314-P, then duringthe performance of the link check when the switch 332 is operated tocouple the secondary cable 314-S to the input of the optical transceiverinterface 310, the excess power would be received at the opticaltransceiver interface 210. The excess power received at the opticaltransceiver interface 210 may lead to a corresponding increase in powerpassed downstream to the unit 306 that is downstream from the expansionunit 300 via cable 315, which in turn can result in excessive RF powersupplied to a power amplifier in that unit. For this reasons, opticaltransceiver interfaces 310 (which may also be represented by the exampleoptical transceiver interface 240 of FIG. 2A) may store two sets ofcalibration settings for its compensation attenuators. One set isassociated with the particular loss characteristics of the primary cable314-P and the other is associated with the loss characteristics of thesecondary cable 314-S. When a link check is initiated, the compensatinglink check module 320 signals the optical transceiver interface module304 and/or 310 to load the set of calibration settings for the secondarycable 314-S from the stored compensation settings 244, and signals theoptical switch 332 to toggle over to the secondary cable 314-5 so thatwhen the signal from the secondary cable 314-S is received by theoptical transceiver interface module 310, the downlink compensationattenuator 241 is using the calibration settings associated with thesecondary cable 314-S. When the link check is complete, the compensatinglink check module 320 signals the optical transceiver interface module302 and/or 310 to reload the set of calibration settings for the primarycable 314-P from the stored compensation settings 344, and signals theoptical switch 332 to toggle back to the primary cable 314-P so thatwhen the signal from the primary cable 314-P is again received by theoptical transceiver interface module 310, its downlink compensationattenuator 241 is using the calibration settings associated with theprimary cable 314-P. It should be understood that the determination ofwhen the compensating link check module 320 should initiate a link check(for example, either by manual or automatic processes) may be performedin any of the ways described above for a compensating link check module120 of a remote antenna unit 112.

One alternate configuration of the embodiment presented in FIG. 3 isillustrated in FIG. 3A at 350, where one or both of the compensatinglink check module 320 and switch 332 may be located in the unit 305 andthe splitter-combiner 304 relocated to the expansion unit 300. Inoperation, as opposed to the unit 305 always providing a downlink signalon both cables 314-P and 314-S and the switch 332 in the expansion unit300 selecting which one is coupled to the optical transceiver interface310, instead the remote unit optical transceiver interface 310 iscontinuously coupled to both cables 314-P and 114-S and the switch 332(under control of the compensating link check module 320) selects whichof the cables 314-P and 314-S becomes energized. Otherwise, thesecomponents operate together in the same manner to perform link checks ofthe secondary cable 314-S, while reconfiguring compensation attenuatorsettings, as set forth in any of the above disclosed examples.

FIG. 4 illustrates generally at 400 another implementation of an exampleembodiment utilizing the remote unit 200 described above with respect toFIG. 2. In this case, the remote antenna unit 200 is coupled to twomaster units 410-1 and 410-2 rather than a single master unit as was thecase in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the master unit 410-1 communicateswith the remote unit 200 via the primary cable 414-P while the masterunit 410-2 communicates with the remote unit 200 via the secondary cable414-S. It should be understood that elements shown in FIG. 4 may be usedin conjunction with, in combination with, or substituted for elements ofany of the embodiments discussed herein and vice versa. Further, itshould be understood that the functions, structures and otherdescription of elements for embodiments described herein may apply tolike named or described elements in any of the other figures and viceversa.

The primary, or main cable 414-P is laid along a first path 421 whilethe secondary, or substitute cable 414-S is laid along a second path 422that is physically separated from the first path 42. For example, thefirst path 421 may comprise a first set of rooms, corridors, hallways,tunnels, cable trays, etc., that are completely distinct from those ofthe second path 422. In this way, if there is a fire, structuralcollapse, or other catastrophic event along the first path 421 thatdamages the primary cable 414-P, the physical separation of the secondpath 422 from the first path 421 may allow the secondary cable 414-S tosurvive and remain functional. In this embodiment,

As is evident from FIG. 4, under normal conditions when the primarycable 414-P is in service, the second master unit 410-2 is decoupledfrom the remote antenna unit 200 because the switch 232 is positioned tocouple the primary cable 414-P to optical transceiver interface 210rather than the secondary cable 414-S. There is thus no mechanism inthis switch state for the second master unit 410-2 to retrieve status orsignaling information from this remote antenna unit 200.

Moreover, during normal operation the intermittent link check is theonly time during which the second master unit 410-2 is coupled to theremote antenna unit 200. Unfortunately, the controller 130 of the secondmaster unit 410-2 controller might not be able to exploit thisintermittent connection to exchange information data available at theremote antenna unit 200. This is because normally each master unit in aDAS controls multiple remote antenna units 200 via separate opticaltransceiver interfaces devices so there is some delay time incommunicating with the underlying components. As a result, the secondmaster unit 410-2 is likely to miss the link check event as anopportunity exchange information data over the secondary cable 414-Sconnection.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, therefore, the remote antenna unit200 further includes an information passing module 415 that may functionindependent of, or in cooperation with the compensating line checkmodule 120. In addition to further including the information passingmodule 420, in FIG. 4 the optical transceiver interface 402 is leveragedto exploit the intermittent connections that may exists over thesecondary cable 414-S connection, for example during the periods wherelink checks are initiated by the compensating link check module 120.

The information passing module 415, the various features described hereas being implemented by information passing module 415, and/or portionsthereof, can be implemented by circuits comprising electronics incombination with for example, control circuitry and/or code executed bya processor, in a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), or the like. In some embodiments,the information passing module 415 may be implemented with electronicsresponsive to signals from the remote unit controller 130. In someembodiments, the information passing module 415 may be integrated withthe compensating link check module 120. In some embodiments, theinformation passing module 415 may be implemented at least in part as asoftware application executed by the controller 130. In this embodiment,the information passing module 415 coordinates the information exchangebetween master units 410-1 and 410-2. This exchange of information maybe from the master unit 410-1 to the master unit 410-2 when the mainpath 414-P is in operation. Alternatively, the exchange of informationmay be from the master unit 410-2 to the master unit 410-1 when thesubstitute path 414-S is in operation. As such, the description ofexchanging information between master units provided herein should beunderstood to be applicable to either configuration.

To facilitate the exchange of information, the information passingmodule 420 includes a memory 416 where data received from the masterunit that originated the data exchange request is temporarily depositeduntil it is transmitted to the optical transceiver interface 402 of thereceiving master unit.

The optical transceiver interface 402 of the receiving master unit (forthis illustrative example, the second master unit 410-2) is configuredto function as a “proxy” for the second master unit 410-2 regarding thedata exchange. Relevant data received from the remote antenna unit 200over the momentary secondary cable 414-S connection is stored in thememory 243 of the optical transceiver interface 402. The type ofinformation conveyed during this time period is not necessarily limitedto any particular type of information, but may include for example,status messages, management messages, setting information, commandsand/or external information entered from an operator control panel (OCP)131. This information may be temporarily stored in memory 243 of theoptical transceiver interface and then forwarded upon the request of themaster unit's controller 130. It should be noted that this would work inthe equivalent manner in the reverse configuration where the system isoperating over 414-S and information is begin exchanged towards thefirst master unit 410-1.

As an example, FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example methodembodiment used in conjunction with the configuration shown in FIG. 4 toshare a set of management data that comprises status, settings, or otherDAS management information from the first master unit 410-1 to thesecond master unit 410-2 during times of normal operation where primarycable 414-P is in active service between the first master unit 410-1 andthe remote unit 200. The method begins at 510 where the first masterunit 410-1 forwards a set of data to the remote antenna unit 200 viaprimary cable 414-P.

In one embodiment, to initially forward the set of management data froma master unit to the remote antenna unit 200, the management data may becombined with wireless service DAS data in one of various ways thatwould be known to those skilled in the art for transporting managementdata along with wireless service data in a DAS. For example, the set ofmanagement data in method 500 may be communicated via a control channelestablished on primary and/or secondary cables 414-P and 414-S separatefrom data channels carrying wireless service DAS data. In that case, thedata may be formatted as Ethernet data. In some embodiments, thiscontrol channel may be implemented as a separate RF channel outside ofthe cell frequency ranges that is frequency combined (FDM) with theservice RF signals using frequency division multiplexing (FMD). In otherembodiments, the control channel may be implemented inmanagement/control time slots of synchronous frames (where synchronousdigital links are used) or in management packets if an asynchronouspacket based transport is used. Such alternative schemes are provided asexamples only and not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure orexclude the various other schemes that can be used.

The method proceeds to 520 where the controller 130 of the remoteantenna unit decodes the set of data and temporarily stores it in memory416 of the information passing module 415. The method then proceeds to530 where the controller 130 prompts the information passing module 415to initiate a toggle of the switch 232 from the primary cable 414-P tothe secondary cable 414-S. This toggle of the switch 232 to initiateinformation passing may be performed in conjunction with a link checkinitiation performed by the compensating link check module 120, but thatneed not necessarily be the case.

In one embodiment when the information passing is initiated, thecompensating link check module 120 and/or information passing module 415may also signals the optical transceiver interface 210 to load the setof calibration settings for the secondary cable 414-S from the storedcompensation settings 244 so that when the signal from the secondarycable 414-S is received by the optical transceiver interface module 210,the downlink compensation attenuator 241 and uplink compensationattenuator 242 are using the calibration settings associated with thesecondary cable 414-S.

The method proceeds to 540 where the second master unit 410-2 detectsactivation of the secondary cable 414-S by detecting the reception of anuplink communication signal at its optical transceiver interface 402 andto 550 with receiving the set of data originating from the first masterunit 410-1 and storing the set of data in the memory of the opticaltransceiver interface 402. As previously described, the informationpassing module 415 completes the information passing by controlling theswitch 232 to toggle the switch 232 from the secondary cable 414-S backto the primary cable 414-P. In one embodiment, the compensating linkcheck module 120 and/or information passing module 415 also signals theoptical transceiver interface 210 to reload the set of calibrationsettings for the primary cable 414-P from the stored compensationsettings 244 so that when the signal from the primary cable 414-P isagain received by the optical transceiver interface module 210, thedownlink compensation attenuator 241 and the uplink compensationattenuator 242 are using the calibration settings associated with theprimary cable 414-P. The method proceeds to 560 where the controller 130of the second master unit 410-2 periodically polls the opticaltransceiver interface 402 for any incoming data sets in the memory 243of the optical transceiver interface 402. When a set of data is present,it is transferred to the controller 130.

In one alternate implementation, the remote antenna unit 200 may have aset of data to share with the second master unit 410-2 that does notoriginate from the first master unit 410-1. In that case, the method 500may be performed beginning at block 530 rather than 510.

It should be appreciated that in addition to the example embodimentsdescribed herein, other network architectures may be implemented thatstill functionally operate in the same manner as described in any of theembodiments disclosed herein. It should also be understood that for anyof the embodiments described herein, while the communication linksconnecting master units and remote antenna units may comprise opticalfiber, in other embodiments other wired or wireless communication links,or combinations thereof, may be utilized instead of, or in combinationwith, optical fiber communication links.

As used herein, DAS related terms such as “master unit”, “remote unit”,“remote antenna unit”, “control unit”, “optical transceiver interface”refer to hardware elements that would be immediately recognized andunderstood by those of skill in the art of wireless communications andare not used herein as nonce words or nonce terms for the purpose ofinvoking 35 USC 112(f).

Example Embodiments

Example 1 includes a distributed antenna system, the system comprising:at least one master unit configured to receive a base station downlinkradio frequency signal and to transmit a base station uplink radiofrequency signal; at least one remote antenna unit that iscommunicatively coupled via a switch to the at least one master unit bya primary cable and a secondary cable both coupled to the switch, theremote antenna unit comprising a power amplifier and configured toradiate a remote downlink radio frequency signal from at least oneantenna associated with the remote antenna unit, the remote antenna unitfurther configured to receive a remote uplink radio frequency signalfrom at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; and acompensating link check module that outputs a control signal to theswitch, wherein the switch selects between the primary cable and thesecondary cable in response to the control signal; wherein thecompensating link check module is configured to control the switch tomomentarily select the secondary cable to perform a link check of thesecondary cable, wherein during the link check of the secondary cablethe remote unit measures at least one quality metric of a downlinksignal received from the at least one master unit via the secondarycable; and wherein upon initiation of the link check of the secondarycable, the compensating link check module adjusts an attenuation of thedownlink signal received on the secondary cable by loading a set ofcalibration settings for the secondary cable into a downlinkcompensation attenuator.

Example 2 includes the system of example 1, wherein upon completion ofthe link check of the secondary cable, the compensating link checkmodule loads a set of calibration settings for the primary cable intothe downlink compensation attenuator and controls the switch to reselectthe primary cable.

Example 3 includes the system of example 2, wherein upon completion ofthe link check of the secondary cable, the compensating link checkmodule reports a result of measuring the at least one quality metric tothe at least one master unit via the primary cable.

Example 4 includes the system of any of examples 1-3, wherein the switchand compensating link check module are components within the remoteantenna unit.

Example 5 includes the system of any of examples 1-4, wherein the switchand compensating link check module are components within the at leastone master unit.

Example 6 includes the system of any of examples 1-5, wherein the atleast one master unit comprises a first master unit coupled to both theprimary cable and a secondary cable via a splitter-combiner.

Example 7 includes the system of any of examples 1-6, wherein the atleast one master unit comprises a first master unit coupled to theprimary cable and a second master unit coupled to the secondary cable.

Example 8 includes the system of example 7, wherein the remote antennaunit is configured to transmit a set of data received from the firstmaster unit coupled via the primary cable to the second master unit viathe secondary cable during a period when the switch is controlled tomomentarily select the secondary cable.

Example 9 includes the system of any of examples 1-8, wherein the remoteantenna unit is configured to transmit a set of data to the secondmaster unit via the secondary cable during a period when the switch iscontrolled to momentarily select the secondary cable.

Example 10 includes the system of any of examples 1-9, wherein thecompensating link check module initiates the link check based on arecurring schedule.

Example 11 includes the system of any of examples 1-10, wherein thecompensating link check module receives management data and initiatesthe link check in response to the management data.

Example 12 includes the system of any of examples 1-11, wherein theprimary cable comprises a primary optical fiber cable, the secondarycable comprises a secondary optical fiber cable and the switch comprisesan optical switch; wherein the remote antenna unit further comprises anoptical transceiver interface coupled to the optical switch.

Example 13 includes the system of example 12 wherein the opticaltransceiver interface comprises the downlink compensation attenuator anda memory; wherein the memory stores the set of calibration settings forthe secondary cable and further stores a set calibration settings forthe primary cable; wherein the optical transceiver interface loads theset of calibration settings for the secondary cable to the downlinkcompensation attenuator in response to a signal from the compensatinglink check module indicating that the link check is initiated; andwherein the optical transceiver interface loads the set of calibrationsettings for the primary cable to the downlink compensation attenuatorin response to a signal from the compensating link check moduleindicating that the link check is complete.

Example 14 includes the system of any of examples 12-13, wherein the atleast one master unit comprises a second optical transceiver interfacecoupled to the secondary cable; wherein the second optical transceiverinterface comprises a memory configured to store a set of data receivedvia the secondary cable during performance of the link check; andwherein the second optical transceiver interface is configured toforward the set of data from the memory in response to a polling signalreceived from a master unit controller.

Claim 15 includes a method for redundancy link checks for a distributedantenna system comprising at least one master unit and at least oneremote antenna unit that is communicatively coupled via a switch to theat least one master unit by a primary cable and a secondary cable bothcoupled to the switch, the method comprising generating a control signalfrom a compensating link check module to initiate a redundancy linkcheck; controlling the switch with the control signal to momentarilyselect the secondary cable to perform a link check of the secondarycable; measuring at least one quality metric of a downlink signalreceived from the at least one master unit via the secondary cableduring the link check; adjusting an attenuation of the downlink signalreceived on the secondary cable by loading a set of calibration settingsfor the secondary cable into a downlink compensation attenuator; andupon completion of the link check of the secondary cable, reporting aresult of measuring the at least one quality metric to the at least onemaster unit via the primary cable.

Example 16 includes the method of example 15 further comprising: uponcompletion of the link check of the secondary cable, applying a set ofcalibration settings for the primary cable into the downlinkcompensation attenuator; and controlling the switch to reselect theprimary cable.

Example 17 includes the method of any of examples 15-16, wherein theswitch and compensating link check module are components within theremote antenna unit.

Example 18 includes the method of any of examples 15-17, wherein theswitch and compensating link check module are components within the atleast one master unit.

Example 19 includes the method of any of examples 15-18, wherein the atleast one master unit comprises a first master unit coupled to both theprimary cable and a secondary cable via a splitter-combiner.

Example 20 includes the method of any of examples 15-19, wherein the atleast one master unit comprises a first master unit coupled to theprimary cable and a second master unit coupled to the secondary cable.

Example 21 includes the method of any of examples 15-20, wherein thecompensating link check module initiates the link check based on arecurring schedule.

Example 22 includes the method of any of examples 15-21, wherein thecompensating link check module receives management data and initiatesthe link check in response to the management data.

Example 23 includes the method of any of examples 15-22, wherein theprimary cable comprises a primary optical fiber cable, the secondarycable comprises a secondary optical fiber cable and the switch comprisesan optical switch; and wherein the remote antenna unit further comprisesan optical transceiver interface coupled to the optical switch.

Example 24 includes a method for communicating a set of data betweencomponents of a digital antenna system comprising at least a firstmaster unit, a second master unit, and a remote antenna unit that iscommunicatively coupled via a switch to the first master unit by aprimary cable and to the second master unit by the secondary cable, themethod comprising: controlling the switch to switch from the primarycable to the secondary cable in response to a control signal from aninformation passing module; detecting a reception of an uplink opticalcommunication signal at the second master unit from the secondary cable;receiving a set of data at an optical transceiver interface coupled tothe secondary cable and storing the set of data in a memory of theoptical transceiver interface; and transferring the set of data to amaster unit controller of the second master unit in response to apolling signal received from the master unit controller.

Example 25 includes the method of example 24, further comprising:forwarding the set of data from the first master unit to the remoteantenna unit via the primary cable prior to controlling the switch toswitch from the primary cable to the secondary cable; and decoding theset of data at the remote antenna unit; and wherein a second master unitcomprises the optical transceiver interface coupled to the secondarycable.

In various alternative embodiments, system and/or device elements,method steps, or example implementations described throughout thisdisclosure (such as any of the master units, remote antenna units,information passing module, compensating Link check module, controllers,circuitry, control units or sub-parts thereof, for example) may beimplemented at least in part using one or more computer systems, fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), or similar devices comprising aprocessor coupled to a memory and executing code to realize thoseelements, processes, or examples, said code stored on a non-transientdata storage device. Therefore other embodiments of the presentdisclosure may include elements comprising program instructions residenton computer readable media which when implemented by such computersystems, enable them to implement the embodiments described herein. Asused herein, the term “computer readable media” refers to tangiblememory storage devices having non-transient physical forms. Suchnon-transient physical forms may include computer memory devices, suchas but not limited to punch cards, magnetic disk or tape, any opticaldata storage system, flash read only memory (ROM), non-volatile ROM,programmable ROM (PROM), erasable-programmable ROM (E-PROM), randomaccess memory (RAM), or any other form of permanent, semi-permanent, ortemporary memory storage system or device having a physical, tangibleform. Program instructions include, but are not limited tocomputer-executable instructions executed by computer system processorsand hardware description languages such as Very High Speed IntegratedCircuit (VHSIC) Hardware Description Language (VHDL).

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the artthat any arrangement, which is calculated to achieve the same purpose,may be substituted for the specific embodiment shown. This applicationis intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the presentedembodiments. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that embodiments belimited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A distributed antenna system, the systemcomprising: at least one master unit configured to receive a basestation downlink radio frequency signal and to transmit a base stationuplink radio frequency signal; at least one remote antenna unit that iscommunicatively coupled via a switch to the at least one master unit bya primary cable and a secondary cable both coupled to the switch, theremote antenna unit comprising a power amplifier and configured toradiate a remote downlink radio frequency signal from at least oneantenna associated with the remote antenna unit, the remote antenna unitfurther configured to receive a remote uplink radio frequency signalfrom at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; and acompensating link check module that outputs a control signal to theswitch, wherein the switch selects between the primary cable and thesecondary cable in response to the control signal; wherein thecompensating link check module is configured to control the switch tomomentarily select the secondary cable to perform a link check of thesecondary cable, wherein during the link check of the secondary cablethe remote unit measures at least one quality metric of a downlinksignal received from the at least one master unit via the secondarycable; and wherein upon initiation of the link check of the secondarycable, the compensating link check module adjusts an attenuation of thedownlink signal received on the secondary cable by loading a set ofcalibration settings for the secondary cable into a downlinkcompensation attenuator.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein uponcompletion of the link check of the secondary cable, the compensatinglink check module loads a set of calibration settings for the primarycable into the downlink compensation attenuator and controls the switchto reselect the primary cable.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein uponcompletion of the link check of the secondary cable, the compensatinglink check module reports a result of measuring the at least one qualitymetric to the at least one master unit via the primary cable.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the switch and compensating link check moduleare components within the remote antenna unit.
 5. The system of claim 1,wherein the switch and compensating link check module are componentswithin the at least one master unit.
 6. The system of claim 1, whereinthe at least one master unit comprises a first master unit coupled toboth the primary cable and a secondary cable via a splitter-combiner. 7.The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one master unit comprises afirst master unit coupled to the primary cable and a second master unitcoupled to the secondary cable.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein theremote antenna unit is configured to transmit a set of data receivedfrom the first master unit coupled via the primary cable to the secondmaster unit via the secondary cable during a period when the switch iscontrolled to momentarily select the secondary cable.
 9. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to transmit a setof data to the second master unit via the secondary cable during aperiod when the switch is controlled to momentarily select the secondarycable.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the compensating link checkmodule initiates the link check based on a recurring schedule.
 11. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the compensating link check module receivesmanagement data and initiates the link check in response to themanagement data.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the primary cablecomprises a primary optical fiber cable, the secondary cable comprises asecondary optical fiber cable and the switch comprises an opticalswitch; wherein the remote antenna unit further comprises an opticaltransceiver interface coupled to the optical switch.
 13. The system ofclaim 12 wherein the optical transceiver interface comprises thedownlink compensation attenuator and a memory; wherein the memory storesthe set of calibration settings for the secondary cable and furtherstores a set calibration settings for the primary cable; wherein theoptical transceiver interface loads the set of calibration settings forthe secondary cable to the downlink compensation attenuator in responseto a signal from the compensating link check module indicating that thelink check is initiated; and wherein the optical transceiver interfaceloads the set of calibration settings for the primary cable to thedownlink compensation attenuator in response to a signal from thecompensating link check module indicating that the link check iscomplete.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one masterunit comprises a second optical transceiver interface coupled to thesecondary cable; wherein the second optical transceiver interfacecomprises a memory configured to store a set of data received via thesecondary cable during performance of the link check; and wherein thesecond optical transceiver interface is configured to forward the set ofdata from the memory in response to a polling signal received from amaster unit controller.
 15. A method for redundancy link checks for adistributed antenna system comprising at least one master unit and atleast one remote antenna unit that is communicatively coupled via aswitch to the at least one master unit by a primary cable and asecondary cable both coupled to the switch, the method comprising;generating a control signal from a compensating link check module toinitiate a redundancy link check; controlling the switch with thecontrol signal to momentarily select the secondary cable to perform alink check of the secondary cable; measuring at least one quality metricof a downlink signal received from the at least one master unit via thesecondary cable during the link check; adjusting an attenuation of thedownlink signal received on the secondary cable by loading a set ofcalibration settings for the secondary cable into a downlinkcompensation attenuator; and upon completion of the link check of thesecondary cable, reporting a result of measuring the at least onequality metric to the at least one master unit via the primary cable.16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: upon completion of thelink check of the secondary cable, applying a set of calibrationsettings for the primary cable into the downlink compensationattenuator; and controlling the switch to reselect the primary cable.17. The method of claim 15, wherein the switch and compensating linkcheck module are components within the remote antenna unit.
 18. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the switch and compensating link checkmodule are components within the at least one master unit.
 19. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the at least one master unit comprises afirst master unit coupled to both the primary cable and a secondarycable via a splitter-combiner.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein theat least one master unit comprises a first master unit coupled to theprimary cable and a second master unit coupled to the secondary cable.21. The method of claim 15, wherein the compensating link check moduleinitiates the link check based on a recurring schedule.
 22. The methodof claim 15, wherein the compensating link check module receivesmanagement data and initiates the link check in response to themanagement data.
 23. The method of claim 15, wherein the primary cablecomprises a primary optical fiber cable, the secondary cable comprises asecondary optical fiber cable and the switch comprises an opticalswitch; and wherein the remote antenna unit further comprises an opticaltransceiver interface coupled to the optical switch.
 24. A method forcommunicating a set of data between components of a digital antennasystem comprising at least a first master unit, a second master unit,and a remote antenna unit that is communicatively coupled via a switchto the first master unit by a primary cable and to the second masterunit by the secondary cable, the method comprising: controlling theswitch to switch from the primary cable to the secondary cable inresponse to a control signal from an information passing module;detecting a reception of an uplink optical communication signal at thesecond master unit from the secondary cable; receiving a set of data atan optical transceiver interface coupled to the secondary cable andstoring the set of data in a memory of the optical transceiverinterface; and transferring the set of data to a master unit controllerof the second master unit in response to a polling signal received fromthe master unit controller.
 25. The method of claim 24, furthercomprising: forwarding the set of data from the first master unit to theremote antenna unit via the primary cable prior to controlling theswitch to switch from the primary cable to the secondary cable; anddecoding the set of data at the remote antenna unit; and wherein asecond master unit comprises the optical transceiver interface coupledto the secondary cable.